Automatic air-brake coupling.



No. 813,747. PATENTED FEB. 27, 1906. A. H. SKILLINGS. AUTOMATIC AIRBRAKE COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.15, 1904.

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ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2'7, 1906.

Application filed December 15, 1904. Serial No. 236,924.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. SKILLINGS,

, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, (with post-ofiice address 455Argyle road, Flatbush,) have invented a certain new and useful ImprovedAutomatic Air-Brake Coupling, of .which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to hose couplings used for the air-brake orsteam-pipes of railway-cars, and is designed more particularly tosimplify and cheapen the construction of that type of coupling in whicha valve is employedfor automatically shutting oif the passage .of air bythe act of partially rotating the two members of the coupling in theusual operation for disconnecting them from each other and forrestablishing the passage when said members are rotated to connect them.The invention relates more particularly to the construction of thecoupling-shell and manner of mounting and securing the rotary valveportion in place therein.

The invention relates also to the construction of the devices forinsuring a full movement of the valve in both of the complementarymembers of the coupling.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction andcombinations of devices moreparticularly hereinafter described and thenspecified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a plan of one member of a coupling embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a vertical section in the line a: as, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isalongitudinal section in the line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a partial planlooking from beneath.

In the drawings one member of the coupling only is shown, thecomplementary member being of similar construction to adapt it forcooperating use, as is well understood in the art.

1 is the coupling-shell proper, provided, as usual, with thelaterally-extending pipe or nipple 2, adapted for attachment of thehose. Said shell is also provided with the flange 3 and the overhanginglip 4, which cooperate with similar parts on the complementary memberand lock said members together in the usual manner when the opening 6 inthe meeting face or front wall of one member is brought into oppositionwith the similar opening in the face of the other member, and

said members are then rotated on an axis 5 transverse to the axis ofpipe 2.

7 indicates a gasket surrounding the opening 6 and held in place beneaththe annular lip or flange 8 on the front wall or meeting face of thecoupling-shell. V

The rear wall 15 of the shell has a central opening, through whichpasses astud projecting from the rotary valve, and which stud, as willbe presently described, is adapted to receive a fastening-nut orsuitable fastening devices, all located in the depression in the outerface of said rear wall 15, as shown. The shell itself is of cast metal,cast in such form as to provide an annular chamber 9, the inner wall orpartition of which (indicated at 10) constitutes a part of the-castmetalshell, being cast integral therewith. Said inner wall or partition isprovided with a number of ports or openings 11, through which byrotation of the valve member free communication is established betweenchamber 9 and the interior of the chamber having the port or opening 6.

Seated in the inner face of the wall is the hollow cylindrical valve 12,which is substantially concentric with the opening 6 and has its openupper end in free communication with opening 6. In the walls of valve 12are ports 13, which cooperate with the ports 11 to establishcommunication between the annular chamber 9 and the port or opening 6,when the members of the coupling are turned so as to lock them together,the valves 12 being at such time interlocked. When turned in theopposite direction to dis connect the members, the ports 11 13 are movedout of registry and the communication is cut off. The face of said valvehas, preferably, a slight taper, diminishing from the end of the valvenearest the front wall or face of the cast shell toward the rear wall,and is held down to its tapered seat on the inner face of the wall 10 byany suitable means as, for instance, by a stud 14, which projects fromthe lower end of the valve-cylinder through an opening in the back orrear wall 15 of the shell and is tapped for the reception of theclamping and lock nuts 16 1-7. These devices, which hold the valve toits seat, are located, as shown, in the depression in the outer face ofthe rear wall and are thereby protected to a great extent fromaccidental contact with foreign objects.

The interlocking of the valves is effected by any suitable means whenthe meeting faces of the complementary members are brought togetherpreparatory to rotating them to cause them to interlock. Such means mayconsist of an axially-projecting lu or web 18, projecting from the topof the cy indrical valve.

To limit the relative rotary movement of each valve and its shell andinsure a full movement of the valve in both of the complementary membersof the coupling, I provide each valve with a stop-piece 19, adapted tobe engaged by a stop pin or stud 20 on its own coupling member. I Saidstop-piece 19 may consist of a plate secured against rotation on thestud 14 outside the rear wall 15 and held in place by being locatedbetween the nuts 16 and the outside face of the rear wall 15. This plate19 is cut away to provide two shoulders 19, adapted to be engaged by thepin or stud 20 when the relative turning movement of either shell andits valve has been completed in either direction. The stud 20, of theshape shown more fullyin Fig. 4, is formed upon the outer face of thewall 15. By this means should there be any disparity in the freedom ofmovement of the valves, respectively, in their seats themorefreely-moving one will open first, after which the relative movementof said valve and its shell will cease by engagement of the pin 20 andone of the shoulders 19, depending upon the direction of movementwhether to open or close the valve. Thereafter said valve and its shellwill be held against turning independently of one another, and the valvein the complementary member will be compelled to move should it havefailed to move in the revious turning movement of the shells withrelation to one another in the act of coupling or uncoupling saidmembers.

As will be seen, the above-described construction of metal shell castwith the wall or partition 10 to form the annular chamber 9 and thesecuring of the valve in place by means of a stud or projectiontherefrom pass ing through the rear wall of the casting or shellproduces an automatic coupling having I forated partition-adaptedto-form anannular' chamber within the shell, a rotary cylindervalveseated on the inner face of the annular partition or wall and having ataper from its end next the meeting face or front wall of the castingtoward the rear wall of the shell, a stud or projection extending fromsaid valve through an opening in the rear wall, and

means cooperating with said stud to hold the valve down to its seat.

2. In a hose-coupling, the combination of rotary valve-cylinders, seatedin the cooperating members of the coupling, and each provided with astud or projection extending through the rear wall of thecoupling-shell, a stop-piece secured against rotation on said stud andsecured thereon outside the rear wall of the shell, and a cooperatingstud formed on the outer face of said back or rear wall, as and for thepurpose described.

3. In a hose-coupling, a cast-metal coupling-shell having an annularchamber formed by an interior wall or partition cast in one piece withthe shell and perforated for cooperation with a valve-cylinder, saidshell hav ing a perforated back or rear wall provided with a cavity ordepression on its exterior, as and for the purpose described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 3d day of December, A. D. 1904.

ARTHUR H. SKILLINGS.

Witnesses:

C. F. TISOHNER,J1., A. FRANKENTHALER.

